Galaxy 33: Gears of Tikkora

The third rift opens onto a world of steam and gears. Vapeuria is covered in pipes that spit scalding steam. Everything there runs on star-coal and pressure.

A shrill whistle sounds. Jets of steam block the path.

On Laitonia, everything is made of brass, even the grass. The blades cut like knives, and the trees creak in the wind. The automatons guarding the planet never sleep.

An automaton turns its head toward you. Its gears click.

The spring soldiers of Ressortia stand guard, fully wound up. Every morning, a giant key winds them up for the day. This morning, someone wound them up twice.

A row of soldiers sets off in the same sharp step.

A giant pendulum sweeps the valley of Pendulia every ten seconds. It keeps time for the whole galaxy. The steam engineers maintain it, and defend it.

The pendulum swings above your heads. You have ten seconds.

The bells of Carillonne ring every hour. With each stroke, the automatons wake up and resume their rounds. Between two strokes, the planet holds its breath.

The first bell rings. Everywhere, glass eyes light up.

Échappement is the mechanism that regulates the heart of the galaxy. Its gears creak beneath your feet, bigger than mountains. A single jammed cog, and time would stop for the whole galaxy.

The ground slowly turns beneath your feet. Everything turns, here.

Tikkora is the mother clock, and the Grand Clockmaker lives there. He built every cog in the galaxy with his own hands. When the rift opened, he saw in it the most beautiful mechanism of all. He decided to set the time for every era. Eras that do not keep to his rhythm, he stops. His engineers protect his workshop, his automatons guard its doors. With one gesture, he can freeze a hero mid-leap.

The Grand Clockmaker raises his goggles. “You are late.”